With '08 teammates, Keeth Smart and Tim Morehouse, already assured of their spots on the Olympic team, Jason went into the final qualification tournament deadlocked with two last challengers vying for the third and final spot. After one lost in the round-of-16, Jason faced the other in the quarterfinals with an Olympic berth on the line. Although one 15 point match would decide everything, Jason describes the situation as "ideal. I mean, how often do you have the opportunity to control your own fate like that?" Jason's mentality of embracing the moment paid off. He scored a 15-8 victory and secured a spot on his second Olympic team.

Second Time's the Charm

At the 2004 Athens games, Jason joined forces with Keeth Smart, Ivan Lee and Tim Morehouse to represent the U.S. in the team sabre competition. Ranked sixth out of eight teams, they got off to an auspicious start by upsetting the third ranked Hungary, 45-43, in their quarterfinal match. However, two straight one-point losses (45-44) to eventual champions France and Bronze Medalists Russia meant a fourth-place finish for the U.S. In the bronze-medal match, Jason out-pointed Russians Sergei Charikov (10-4) and Alexei Yakimenko (5-4), but it was not enough to overcome a vaunted Russian squad, who erased a 10 deficit to win in the final match to take the Bronze.

Though most would lament such an outcome, Jason took it in stride and used the result as motivation to drive his next four years of training. After graduating from Ohio State in 2006, Jason spent the next two years fully dedicating himself to fencing, determined to prevent the 4th place disappointment of 2004 from placing a limit on his team's potential in the next Olympiad. Such preparation became paramount upon returning to the Olympic stage in Beijing, because the Beijing team event promised to be a near mirror image of the Athens fiasco. As it turned out, the U.S. team would have to confront the demons of 2004 in order to claim that elusive medal. Having lost twice by one point margins in Athens, the team was resolved to turn luck on its side.

Just like in Athens, the team was seeded fairly low (seventh out of eight teams) going into the competition. This meant another first round matchup with the Hungarians, recently crowned as 2007 World Champions. Yet, in riveting come-from-behind fashion, the U.S. again upset Hungary, paving the way for a rematch against 2004 nemesis, Russia. But from here, the old script would change course. In a stunning reversal, the U.S. staged a furious 10 point comeback to vanquish the Russians 45-44 and advance to the first final in U.S. men's team sabre history. In winning by the slimmest of margins, the U.S. was victim of the one point loss no more. The ghosts of 2004 were officially conquered. Although the team was eventually defeated by France (defending Olympic Champions) in the gold medal bout, the silver was the U.S. team's best finish ever and their first Olympic Medal in the event in 60 years.